Is it spring training yet? No — but the championship season is upon us, a finer thing still.

THE MORNING HORSEHIDE HERALD

"Every Score Set Down, No Deed Unsung"

~ Being a Faithful Daily Chronicle of the National Pastime ~

Volume I · No. 47 · Monday, the Four-and-Twentieth of August, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six

Reporting 15 contests from the day prior.

The Game of the Day

TWO OUT IN THE NINTH, FOUR RUNS IN ARREARS — AND SIX STILL TO COME: SCHWARBER'S NINE-AND-THIRTIETH SETTLES IT, PHILLIES 6, CARDINALS 4, AND THE STREAK IS NINE

Down to their final out at Citizens Bank Park, the Philadelphians load the bases against O'Brien, sovereign of the National's saves table, whereupon Sosa's two-strike double clears them, De La Cruz knots the score, and Schwarber — in his own words reduced to shocked disbelief — launches the two-run blast that makes the winning streak nine and the walk-off the second of the series

Through eight innings Sunday evening at Citizens Bank Park the game belonged wholly to St. Louis, and the ledger said so without ornament: four runs to none, the tallies gathered patiently — Burleson driving home a run apiece in the first and the fourth, Fermín lifting his sixth homer over the left-center barrier in the fifth, Wetherholt cashing another in the seventh. To guard the treasure the Redbirds summoned O'Brien, keeper of three-and-thirty saves and the National League's leader in that commerce, and when he had secured two outs the arithmetic gave Philadelphia scarcely a prayer.

What followed will be retold in that city for some seasons. The bases filled. Edmundo Sosa, down to his final strike, doubled to clear them — Harper, Realmuto, and Crawford racing home in single file — and the deficit shrank to one. Bryan De La Cruz singled, the inning's fourth two-strike hit, and the game stood level at four. Then Kyle Schwarber, whose nine-and-thirty home runs already led the National League, sent the next argument soaring into the Philadelphia night and stood a moment at the plate in what he later called "shocked disbelief," equal to nothing but a tossed helmet, a flung bat, and a slow lap into the arms of the assembled. Six runs in the ninth, all with two out; a 6-4 verdict; a winning streak now nine games long. "We're the Phillies; I can't say I'm really surprised," offered Sosa afterward, and the standings second the motion: nine victories in their last ten leave the Brotherly Love nine three games astern of Atlanta in the East and firmly seated in the wild-card row. It is, the record shows, the second time in three evenings St. Louis has been beaten in Philadelphia at the game's final turn — Friday by Bohm's triple in the tenth, as this paper related Saturday — and the poor Redbirds must now depart while the victors fly west, where a nine-game expedition through Seattle, Anaheim, and Phoenix opens this very night.

News Around the League

THE UNICORN PAWS AT THE GATE: OHTANI THROWS THIRTY PITCHES AT LIVING BATSMEN, AND THE CLUB APPOINTS HIS RETURN FOR THE NEXT HOMESTAND

Seven weeks removed from his last turn upon the mound, Shohei Ohtani faced live hitters at Chavez Ravine before Saturday's engagement — thirty pitches across six simulated plate appearances, his opposite number the convalescing catcher Will Smith — and the Los Angeles management now declares him likely to start during the club's next homestand. The great man last pitched July the third, having compiled eight victories against two defeats and an earned-run figure of 1.79 across fourteen starts before a balky left knee intervened. "If it were up to Shohei," testified the manager Roberts, "he'd be in a game in a few days." The Herald notes that the Angelenos, winners of six running, have scarcely missed a beat in his mound absence — a fact that ought to terrify the rest of the National League rather than comfort it.

THE INFIRMARY WARD: WEATHERS JOINS THE YANKEE SICK-LIST, JUDGE TAKES UP THE TEE, ANTHONY'S RETURN IS APPOINTED, AND PHOENIX LOSES SOROKA

The Yankee infirmary, already crowded, admits another: Ryan Weathers went to the fifteen-day list Sunday with a low-grade flexor strain of the left forearm, though the club professes optimism he pitches again this season. Elsewhere in that ward, Judge has taken to striking a ball from a tee — modest commerce, but commerce — while Fried threw a bullpen of six-and-twenty pitches Saturday and may return when first eligible; Stanton, both calves now in conspiracy against him, may be finished for the year, as this paper reported yesterday.

In Boston the news runs brighter: the rookie Roman Anthony transfers his rehabilitation to Worcester on Tuesday and could rejoin the Boston club during their engagement in New York at the week's end. In Phoenix, darker: the Diamondbacks, whose trying week began with the Marte affair this paper has chronicled, dispatched Michael Soroka to the fifteen-day list with inflammation of the right shoulder, a day after he labored for his command. And in the champions' camp, Glasnow is appointed to come off the list and start Tuesday at Atlanta — where, the schedule confirms, the Dodgers and Braves open their engagement tomorrow evening.

THE MONUMENT DESK: EIGHT HUNDRED POUNDS OF BRONZE FOR THE MAN FROM MAPLE RIDGE, AND TEARS AT TWENTIETH AND BLAKE

Sunday morning outside Coors Field, to the unlikely accompaniment of "Crazy Train," a purple shroud came away and Larry Walker beheld himself fifteen feet tall and eight hundred pounds of bronze, bat hoisted to the sky — the first Hall of Famer of the Colorado franchise, now standing sentry at the main gate at Twentieth and Blake. The man from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, nine-and-fifty years of age, carried his speech gracefully until he reached his father, Larry the elder, seated near at hand, whereupon the tears arrived. In attendance: Ferguson Jenkins, the only other Canadian enshrined at Cooperstown; Todd Helton, the Rockies' other Hall man; and Bob Gebhard, the original general manager who brought Walker to Colorado. The honoree's own verdict on his likeness: "Guess that's a way to slow me down."

THE ALMANAC DESK: WILLIAMSPORT ENGAGES THE JAYS AND THE CUBS FOR THE TENTH CLASSIC, ANNO 2027

The ink was scarcely dry on the ninth Little League Classic — of which more below, the Braves having taken it — when the Commissioner Manfred, joining Sunday night's broadcast from Williamsport, announced the tenth: the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago Cubs shall meet at that shrine on Thursday, the nineteenth of August, 2027. The fixture, hosted as ever in connection with the Little League World Series, will mark the annual showcase's tenth year, and Major Leaguers from both nines will spend the day among the twelve-year-olds before the evening's business. The Herald, which watched this year's edition work its particular magic upon grown professionals, pronounces the institution in rude health.

THE MILESTONE DESK: STEWART AT EIGHT-AND-NINETY, TWO CARDINALS LEVEL AT SIX-AND-NINETY, AND THE CROWN OF THREE ENDURES

The freshman Sal Stewart of Cincinnati, undeterred by his club's Sunday defeat in the desert, drove home another run and stands now at eight-and-ninety on the season — still the master of all baseball's runs-batted-in table, still chasing the distinction, unclaimed by any rookie since 1950, of leading the major leagues outright. His pursuers have consolidated: Burleson's pair in the Philadelphia calamity draws him level with his clubmate Walker at six-and-ninety apiece, two St. Louis men sharing second place two tallies astern. In the American, meanwhile, Yordan Alvarez holds his crown of three yet again — a .320 average, six-and-thirty homers, ninety runs driven in, first in all three columns — even as his Houston nine contrive new ways to squander a Sunday, as the card below relates.

The Rest of the Card

THE WOUND IS STANCHED AS ADVERTISED: TAMPA MEN 3, BIRDS 1, WITH MARTINEZ'S THIRTEENTH AND BAKER'S SEVEN-AND-THIRTIETH

The matchup this paper flagged yesterday — Martinez against Baz, a three-game skid to be arrested — resolved precisely as Tampa Bay drew it up: a three-run sixth off singles from Caminero and Simpson, and Baker closing for his seven-and-thirtieth save, most in the American. Martinez's thirteenth victory keeps the Rays three games clear of the Bronx at the head of the East. Baltimore managed two hits all afternoon, both by Cowser, whose ninth-inning homer spared the Birds a whitewash; Baz, game but unlucky, falls to four-and-fourteen.

TWO, THEN THREE, THEN TWO MORE, AND THE PURSUIT IS MAINTAINED: HIGHLANDERS 8, MAPLE LEAF NINE 3

New York kept pace with the leaders by installments — two runs in the second, three in the sixth, two in the seventh, and Grisham's eighteenth homer for punctuation in the eighth — while eleven hits fell about the Toronto defense. Blackburn took the decision to five-and-two; Soriano bore the loss. Kirk's run-scoring single was the visitors' consolation, and the Highlanders remain three astern of Tampa Bay with a homestand against Houston beginning tomorrow.

A MAN MAY CLIMB A WALL AND STILL LOSE THE DAY: GULF STREAM NINE 6, WASHINGTONS 2

The Capital club's center fielder Jacob Young performed the afternoon's great larceny at loanDepot park, scaling the left-center barrier in two distinct climbs — in the manner of a human fly — to rob Heriberto Hernández of a drive struck at a hundred and five miles to the hour, and turning the theft into a double play besides. It availed Washington nothing: Miami fed steadily all evening, Mack and Crews doubling in runs, and the Marlins — one-and-forty victories now against but five-and-twenty defeats in their own yard — sent the Washingtons home from a road expedition concluded at one victory against eight defeats.

SIX RUNS DOWN, THEN SIX IN A SINGLE FRAME: MACKMEN 7, HOUSTON NINE 6, AND THE WEST'S CROWN SITS ON TWO UNEASY HEADS

Houston built a fortress by the fourth — Altuve's fourteenth homer, Paredes' seventeenth, six runs to none — and the Athletics burned it down in the fifth: Serven's three-run blast, Butler's double, Tommy White's two-run single, six tallies in the frame. Max Muncy's seventh homer in the seventh supplied the difference, and the Mackmen, last in the West, had beaten its leaders two days running. The consequence at the summit is remarkable: Houston and Texas now share the division's chair at five-and-sixty wins against six-and-sixty defeats — a crown worn jointly, and below the break-even line at that.

SALVY STEALS A BASE, THE CROWD STEALS A LOOK AT THE CALENDAR, AND THE STREAK REACHES EIGHT: ROYALS 11, MOTOR CITY NINE 7

The morning's baserunning conference at Kauffman Stadium was conducted, by all accounts uproariously, by Salvador Perez himself — and in the second inning the six-and-thirty-year-old backstop made good on his own sermon, swiping second base for the first time since July of 2021 and the first time in his home yard since 2017. "That feels even better than a home run," he testified. Thus inspirited, Kansas City piled five runs in the second behind Loftin's three-run homer and four more in the fifth, Rave clearing the fence, and survived Detroit's four-run reply — McGonigle's fourteenth among it — for an eighth consecutive victory, nine of their last ten. The Detroits have dropped five running.

PETERS AGAIN SUPPLIES THE LAST WORD: PALE HOSE 2, FLUSHING NINE 1, AND SENGA'S LUCKLESS LEDGER READS NOUGHT-AND-NINE

For the second time in three evenings the South Side settled its business at the final swing: Benintendi's double gave Chicago the lead in the eighth, Jared Young's single restored the level in the ninth, and Tristan Peters promptly unrestored it with his ninth homer, a walk-off blast to center. The cruelest line in the box belongs to Senga, who pitched well enough to win most evenings and fell instead to nought-and-nine on the season — a record that ought to be tried before a fairer court.

SIX SPOTLESS INNINGS FROM QUANTRILL, AND THE HOMESTAND CLOSES IN CREDIT: ARLINGTON MEN 5, HALOS 3

Cal Quantrill dealt six scoreless innings on six hits and six strikeouts, Texas banked three runs in the second and two in the fifth, and Latz weathered Neto's twenty-second homer in the late going for his six-and-twentieth save. Kikuchi absorbed the defeat. The Arlington men thus conclude their homestand a game to the good and share the West's summit with Houston — see above for the full accounting of that curious diarchy.

A SWEEP AT ALTITUDE, A FIFTEENTH VICTORY, AND A BEE WITH NO RESPECT FOR THE PROCEEDINGS: LAKE ERIE MEN 7, COLORADANS 2

Cleveland struck five runs inside two innings, Griffin ran his astonishing ledger to fifteen victories against four defeats, and the Guardians completed the sweep for a fourth consecutive win — cementing their joint tenancy of the American's last wild-card chair, of which the desk below has more. The afternoon's strangest wound was inflicted in the sixth, when the Colorado reliever Herget was stung upon the pitching arm by a bee in the very act of his duties ("I'm not a bee expert or whatever," he confessed). The Coloradans have now lost six running, and nine consecutively at their mountain home — a home skid matched in the franchise's annals only by its inaugural nine of 1993.

FENWAY CONTINUES ITS RESTORATIVE WORK: BOSTONS 5, ORANGE AND BLACK 4, AND THE COUNT AT HOME REACHES THREE RUNNING

A three-run fourth — Wong doubling upon a challenged and overturned call, Gasper and Rafaela cashing in behind him — carried Boston past an early San Francisco lead, and though the visitors crept within one in the seventh on a pair of Boston throwing miscues, Chapman barred the door for his nine-and-twentieth save. Three straight now for the Fenway men, seven of their last ten, and the wild-card cushion holds at a comfortable six and a half games.

NINETEEN RUNS, TWO GRAND SLAMS, AND A LONG EVENING BY THE SOUND: CUBS 19, SEATTLE NINE 2

Arozarena opened Sunday's proceedings precisely as he had opened and closed Saturday's — with a homer, his twentieth, the second consecutive evening he greeted the Chicago starter thus — and thereafter the visitors declined all further courtesy. Conforto answered over the fence, Happ delivered a grand slam in the third, Crow-Armstrong struck his three-and-thirtieth in a nine-run eighth, and the rookie Pedro Ramírez added a second slam of his own before contributing again in a three-run ninth: nineteen runs on seventeen hits, and a seventeen-run verdict that washed away three consecutive defeats at a stroke. Civale collected the win; the Seattle nine will be forgiven for burning the scorecards.

TATIS AND MERRILL SUPPLY THE THUNDER, BUEHLER THE QUIET: FRIARS 8, TWIN CITIES NINE 1

San Diego's evening proceeded from comfort to rout: Tatis hammered his seventeenth homer, Merrill his one-and-twentieth, and a four-run sixth put the matter beyond litigation while Buehler took the decision to eight-and-six. A third consecutive victory keeps the Friars in possession of the National's final wild-card chair, two games clear of Arizona's pursuit with Miami four astern.

TWO HITS ARE NOT ENOUGH TO EAT: ANGELENOS 4, BUCCANEERS 0, AND THE SWEEP IS SEALED

Snell and the Los Angeles relief corps rationed Pittsburgh to two hits the whole afternoon, Ohtani scored the game's first run before some spectators had found their seats, and run-scoring singles by Alek Thomas and Feduccia made the rest academic. A sixth consecutive victory completes the sweep of the Buccaneers and keeps the champions — eighty wins now against one-and-fifty defeats — a single game astern of Milwaukee for the best record in all baseball, with the collision at Atlanta opening tomorrow.

FOUR IN THE SEVENTH REDEEM A SORROWFUL SUNDAY: DESERT NINE 5, QUEEN CITY NINE 3

Cincinnati banked three runs in the third and guarded them into the seventh, whereupon Arizona's patience matured all at once: Ildemaro Vargas tripled two runners home, Carroll lifted the go-ahead sacrifice fly, and four runs crossed in the frame. The victory fell to Loáisiga and the seal to Ginkel, a tonic on the very day the club dispatched Soroka to the infirmary — the ward above has the particulars. The Desert nine remain two games back of San Diego in the wild-card hunt; the Reds' September arithmetic grows grim.

THE TWELVE-YEAR-OLDS DEMANDED A HOMER, AND HARRIS OBLIGED IN THE NINTH: ATLANTAS 4, SUDS MEN 2, AT WILLIAMSPORT

At historic Bowman Field, before an audience whose median age required a bedtime, the ninth Little League Classic went to Atlanta. Michael Harris II, hectored good-naturedly before every at-bat by a delegation of twelve-year-olds demanding a home run ("I let them down," he confessed of the earlier attempts, "so eventually I had to do it"), delivered their commission in the ninth — his one-and-twentieth, off the Milwaukee reliever Ashby — to fatten a lead built on Dubón's ground-rule double and Sean Murphy's single. Mahle took the win and Iglesias the save; Harris had earlier homered in nobody's imagination but the children's, which is rather the point of the fixture. The Suds men, though beaten, retain baseball's best record at one-and-eighty wins, six clear of the Cubs in the Central.

Let the record show a small miracle of stillness: the American's final wild-card chair, whose occupancy this desk has recorded in a different arrangement on seven consecutive mornings, this morning kept its tenants. Texas and Cleveland remain in joint possession, now at five-and-sixty wins apiece, with Toronto a game and a half astern, Minnesota and Baltimore two, and Seattle three — though the reader is cautioned that both incumbents sit below the break-even line, and that Houston shares the West's crown with Texas at the identical figure, a diarchy of the barely solvent unusual even by that division's standards. In the National the seating likewise holds: the Cubs, Philadelphia, and San Diego in the three chairs, Arizona two back of the Friars. The card this evening runs to ten engagements, all verified against the schedule: the Phillies carry their nine-game streak and their westward luggage into Seattle at 9:40 Eastern, Wheeler and his ten victories opposing Gilbert; the Rays visit Detroit; the Cubs, fresh from their nineteen-run sermon, open at Phoenix; and the idle Brewers, Dodgers, and Braves sharpen their knives for tomorrow's grander collisions. Until the morrow's dispatch, keep your scorecards near and your enthusiasms nearer.

~ THE HERALD ~

The Herald Acknowledges Its Debts